Dark Age A Deus Ex FF Piece
by JackRatiner
Summary: The Illuminati reign. The rivaling factions have either been eliminated, collapsed, or quietly hidden. Shaken by the events of the Invisible War, all are unsure whether to trust this government or to start a new revolution like no other...
1. The Divide

**Chapter 1: The Divide**

Silence covered Lower Seattle. It was 2083, and the world was beginning to fall under the cold, merciless grasp of nanotechnology. The Illuminati were successful in activating the Aquinas, and the rivaling factions became smothered in a wave of public support for the "Age of Light."

But not all.

Jack Ratiner, leader of the People's Dawn, surveyed the wasteland for signs of federal personnel. There was something heroic and slightly swashbuckler-like to his countenance. He was just a few inches shy of most men, but black armor and golden visor gave him a cloak of mystery that both intimidated and inspired.

His armor creaked silently as he propped himself up against a burnt building.

He gave the signal to follow cautiously.

The People's Dawn came to power as the poor became poorer and the rich became richer. The nanotech era divided the two classes enough that Seattle felt like two different countries.

Upper Seattle. –Bright, clean, and advanced. The pinnacle of technology and the dreams of countless futurists for decades. There the wealthy and the middle class lived a sheltered life in the enclaves established by the WTO during the Invisible War.

Lower Seattle was the antithesis of Upper Seattle. Run down, rust colored, dark, and rubble-covered by years of battle between the Knights Templar and the Illuminati. The Templar Knights did not disappear quietly like JC Denton's people; or mysteriously like the Omar. They continued to persuade vast audiences of people that the nano-era was destroying the value of life and the purity of the human race.

It was not until Saman was killed that the Knights finally fell into internal chaos, unable to fill in the power vacuum.

Ratiner was leading a new sort of revolution. The People's Dawn felt that governments would always deceive and hide significant discoveries from the people. Ratiner always pointed back to the corruption of UNATCO and Majestic 12 for hiding the ambrosia cure from the people. He pointed to how the WTO and the Order Church deceived the people into thinking the two were both different organizations. How would humanity ever progress if the minds of the people were sustained in ignorance?

Furthermore, the People's Dawn reminded the masses the power of nanotechnology. With a few more years in development, nanotech could replace the need to eat and consume. It could make the average person strong enough that there would be no hope for anyone to commit crime. No reason.

Ratiner placed his C1.4 on his back, making sure the rifle would not slide out of its proper place. Slowly, he pulled his pistols from their holsters (one on his waist and one on his thigh). He cocked the two pistols and switched on the laser sighters slow enough that his tension was visible. Ratiner's people used a more primitive design of guns not based on nano-ammunition. Normal weaponry used by the Illuminati was much better, because there was no need for clips. Semi-self-replicating nanites created the bullets before firing out of the gun. If The Rebellion also used this Peizochem weaponry, the Illuminati could simply send out the lock codes to deactivate the nanites.

Alas the weaponry used by The Rebellion was less than impressive. But their tactics were superior. Urban guerilla warfare was the specialty of Jack and his followers. About four years earlier Jack single-handedly corrupted all the nav files of Lower Seattle from Aquinas itself. The ruined city was nearly impossible to navigate for all but the rebels, and even they sometimes were surprised by the tortuous pathways and sewers belonging to the destroyed city. Whenever the Illuminati would try to stop the resistance, they would end up lost and divided. One by one they would be taken down silently or by ambushes or by traps.

As the saying went, _look out for Jack 'cause he's at your back_.

"Comrade, give me enough cover to make it across the street. Gray team's ETA: twelve minutes. Fire only on my order. Radio silence –out," Jack whispered while turning off the communication system imbedded in his datalink.

Jack activated his targeting biomod. The right corner of his mouth rose in satisfaction. Biomodification had become less painful over the years as understanding of the human brain allowed numbing at targeted sights for quick and painless biomod installation and activation.

After a few seconds Jack could feel his sight-targeting systems cooperate with his arm biomodifications. He tried spinning around to test his reflex sighters on a speck on the wall.

Functionality one-hundred percent.

Jack sprinted across the street as fast as his leg augmentation could take him. He could run just barely slower than most cars…but so could the enemy.

_Oh how war has become complicated._

Jack stopped at the corner of a leveled Quee-Queegs establishment. He kicked over a bench to provide cover. He waved for his comrade to follow.

Sam Hilligins. -A woman who knew her French philosophers better than a university professor. She and Jack were both the brains behind the rebellion, but like any good anarchist, they fought on the front line too. Unlike most leaders, Ratiner fought on the front line with his comrades to emphasize the point that he wasn't just the next government. Hypocrisy never helped a political movement.

Her suit was much more advanced. Old Peizochem vests reinforced with carbon-nanotubes. Carbon-nanotubes were the answer to any fighter's call for protection. Twice the strength of most metals at half of the weight. It was also armor that would fold back into its original shape after being dented.

Even Jack could tell she was beginning to doubt their situation. The Illuminati posted four mil-bots just a few blocks ahead. Each had enough nanotech sensors to detect non-Peizochem weaponry at a few hundred feet.

Sam's left hand made its way from the front of her C1.4 to the side of Jack's helmet. For a few moments, they looked at each other's reflections in their own visors. Jack looked down, unsure of what to say. He could feel her eyes on him.

The best he could manage was a friendly pat on the shoulder. _It's okay, if either of us die, at least we can die easy knowing we're the good guys._

But she didn't want reassurance -she would die beside Jack. What she wanted was attention. He would never see her feelings because his heart was _for all_ of humanity. She would always be second to the cause. Her only hope was to make it out alive with him…if they could win the war.

"I love you," she whispered while tears formed in privacy behind her visor, "please don't get killed."

Unsure if she meant it seriously or in a fraternal way, he nodded slowly –bringing his gaze out to the general direction of the enemy. Jack placed his left pistol into its holster, and reached for a red-colored mine stained with the grime of constant battles. This was the mine that almost killed him four years ago when he corrupted the Aquinas server at a federal facility. Ever since he kept it; he wanted to deploy it against his enemy. The Illuminati became used to the rebels using their own weaponry, so no one bothered to waste the money on making sensors to detect _Illuminati _arms. This mine would not show up on any mil-bot's radar.

"Stay put, I am going to make us a path."

Jack scanned the area, sighed in a form of satisfaction and relief, then sprinted across the road and took cover behind a pile of twisted metal. He looked at the counter on his rifle.

523R.

"Catch Jack!"

Jack turned around to see Sam toss one of the Rebel mines over to him. He caught it with extreme precision, and placed it into a tight strap on his thigh.

_A diversion. Great idea Sam._

Jack ran across a dirt courtyard, and crawled up a chain link fence. After scanning the area once again, he decided it was safe to sprint back out while keeping his head low. He passed two corners and dived into a pile of rubble while the mil-bots pounded close by.

Their steps shook the pebbles on the ground.

His armor covered in ash and dirt, Jack pulled himself together –if a bit shaken- and slapped the Rebel mine onto a cracked sidewalk. The street was shaped like an "X" although the top left branch and the lower right branch had been blown apart and destroyed by collapsed buildings. Jack could see the mil-bots up the remaining street about one hundred meters away.

Their oddly beetle-shaped carapace and massive bird-like legs carried their nano-reinforced frames almost grudgingly. Even with lighter nanocomposites, Jack knew from experience that these military robots were about half as heavy as a tank. Each had two chain guns, two rocket launchers, and one grenade launcher that could blast off EMP grenades to pesky rebels utilizing biomods.

Jack then waited for the mil-bots to cross over into the center of the intersection, before he leaped up onto rooftop and situated himself to lob the _Peizochem_ mine onto the other lane –the top right branch. When finished, Jack had the last two branches of the crossroads rigged so that if the mil-bots went down either lane, they would detonate one of the mines and send the remaining buildings tumbling down.

Jack smiled at his plan.

He would lure the four bots over to the rebel mine, and allow them to detect the mine. Then he would travel along the back of the buildings and trick the AI into perusing Jack by walking _right into_ the mine on the other lane; the one that would be invisible on the radars.

He just had to play bait and get out before getting shot.

Jack slipped off the rooftop and returned to the alleyway with the chain link fence. After jumping over it, he pulled out his rifle and peered out just far enough to see over a corner to scan the area.

The mil-bots were close enough to pick up the mine, now he just had to alert the robots to his presence.

Jack greeted the closest one with a shot enhanced by his targeting biomod. The bullet passed into the barrel of the rocket launcher, detonated it, and ripped the shell off the robot.

"_Damage critical_."

The other three immediately open fired, chipping the corner of the building and forcing Jack to begin his getaway.

But the damaged robot was malfunctioning. It was heading to the mine it was supposed to avoid! The buildings were too far spaced for all of the robots to become trapped by rubble if the _rebel_ mine went off.

Cursing to himself, Jack ran back to the chain link fence and shot the damaged military bot; he was intent on luring it down the _correct_ lane.

A bullet flung past Jack, and ricocheted off a wall.

Suddenly one of the rockets discharged.

_Oh sh-_

The rocket blew up prematurely, but the blast radius was close enough to push Jack back and crack his visor. He heard the familiar hiss in his datalink of a bioelectric energy shortage.

Someone also fired one of the EMP grenades.

It was a sacrifice he was going to have to accept.

Stupidly, the military robots sprinted across the_ Peizochem_ trapped lane; intent on plowing down Jack while he was knocked prone behind the ruined buildings. A sudden blast and a ripple of bright orange light shook the intersection while three of the robots became encased in rubble. Dust rose into the air while debris rained down onto Jack's armor.

It was hard to see with the cracked visor, but Jack could make out that the damaged military bot was still operational and was not buried.

Then the familiar sound of rifles filled the air. The bullets bit through exposed military bot circuitry as the robot was cut down just as it prepared to shoot Jack.

"Sorry we got held up in the cistern system in sewer 13, are you alright Jack?"

"Yeah, I think I landed on my foot wrong…"

Jack clumsily raised himself, and saw Sam push through the reinforcements to see if Ratiner was okay. After wiping some blood mixed with mud off his visor and gun, Jack stood up and recommended a cleanup of the rebel mine.

"Take apart that mil-bot too; we can use that plating for body armor. Cole, see what you can salvage from the other three." Jack said while friendly knocking on Sam's helmet. Most of the People's Dawn could not afford helmets, and deep down Jack was annoyed his visor broke.

But better his visor than his skull.


	2. Ambition

**Chapter 2: Ambition**

Jack sunk into his chair, keeping his focus on a scratch mark on his desk. To anyone else looking, he would have simply appeared to be spacing out. But deep down, his mind was filled to the brim in debate.

In doubt.

Jack understood the possible implications of his movement. He understood how difficult it would be to turn the entire world into anarchy, and to remove the average person from the mindset that they could rely on others for their own safety. He worried that his fellow comrades were delusional, and that only he had a realistic understanding of what would come in future years if the People's Dawn were ever to crush the Illuminati.

By Jack's estimation, after consulting the best political scientists and statistical analysts, he guessed that around half a century later, the world could change into his dream. It would have been near impossible in previous generations, when technology was insufficient and the world was split into different nations. But even amidst the doubt and weariness, Jack felt in the core of his being that humanity was ready to make its first tentative steps into what could possibly be the first true global utopia.

He released his own tension and allowed his arms to hang out from the chair while his head rested on the back of his chair. He watched a fan above him as he contemplated the true meaning of the word _revolution._

The door to his quarters slid open, and a young man walked into his room grinning brightly. His clothes were pressed and clean while his grin suggested something eccentric in his mindset. His hair was combed, almost gingerly, and his shoes captured the movements of the ceiling fan in its pitch black shine.

An immediate scowl of disapproval arrived from Jack, as he thought one word to himself.

_Up-town._

"Who let you in here?"

As if by reply, Sam walked into the room with a rifle pointed downward in a casual position.

She smiled.

"You must be Ratiner. I don't think there is a single person on the net that doesn't know about you Mr. Ratiner," the boy said enthusiastically while initiating the usual pleasantries one normally gives to strangers.

Jack looked at the boy a second time, and then slowly brought his gaze to Sam.

"State your business," Jack sighed at the boy while tucking a pen away into his bottom drawer.

"I have come to serve you Jack. I have read your work from top to bottom…you have changed me Jack. For the better."

Jack's disapproval turned into curiosity. Normally anyone trying to join the People's Dawn would be contacted by an operative, then quietly smuggled into Lower Seattle. Why was this kid brought to Jack?

Jack brought Sam to the other side of the room.

"I've seen too many youths die from their ambition. You know how I feel about them…what is this? Revenge from the previous day?"

"Jack…he comes from a wealthy family. He wants to donate too."

Instantly Jack felt a rush of embarrassment. He could tell he hurt Sam's feelings out of his defensive nature.

"Right. Give him gear, keep him close enough to the battles that he has a good time, but make sure he doesn't see anything disturbing," Jack said while looking back to see if the new layman overheard anything, "remember, this is a war of words."

"And money."

Jack nodded, but his eyes looked apologetic. Sam sighed inaudibly out of both frustration and performance.

"May I join your fight for freedom sir?"

Jack felt ten years older.

* * *

Silence filled the room. 

Positioned around a circular table, four figures sat in dark chairs. Their features were hidden behind poor lighting. The cherry oak table reflected the weak illumination back out into the room a few feet before darkness consumed it all.

The figures shifted uneasily, suspended in their darkness.

"Why have we been gathered here?"

"Shouldn't that be obvious by now, Mr. Masson?"

"Project CeTa should not be authorized by anyone at this point."

"My understanding of the situation is that the longer we keep this project off the market, the more money we wasting," spoke one of the members previously silent.

The room filled with the familiar silence of unanimous approval.

"How much longer before mass production?"

Now someone over an intercom.

_"We're guessing, twenty-nine to thirty-two hours, based on previous experimentation."_

One of the figures nodded slowly, while another began tapping a pen in anticipation of the next question -one that would inevitably follow.

_"Who do you want to contact?"_


End file.
